There are many arguments about the iPhone and the Blackberry and which one is better.  Recently, I was witnessing one of these when I quickly interjected that there is a simple difference between the two … one is a toy while the other is a business tool (of course, the Blackberry is also slowly turning into a toy).  When I was told that at work we may be moving from the Blackberry to the Palm Pre, I started to do some research but much of it was from when the Pre first came out.  Since then there have been several updates, unfortunately I could not find any recent opinions.  Well, you may not have asked for it but here is mine.

First, why even choose to switch?  The answer is simple, money.  Not only do we not have to pay RIM $15/month/device (saving us $300/month) but due to Sprint’s mobile to mobile any plan feature, we could cut down our minute pool down considerably.  I have been using the Pre for a little while now so the differences from the Blackberry have started to fade.  Some differences are when you are typing an email address the Blackberry would “know” so you could hit the space bar to insert a ‘@’ or ‘.’  Also, holding down a letter won’t capitalize it on the Pre, it will repeat it – just like on a real keyboard.  The nicest feature that I miss is the space space insertion of a period that the Blackberry would do.  However, the Pre does have the period in a place where you do not have to alt or shift to get to it, it’s just a regular key.  Our Pres came with WebOS 1.1.0, release 1.2.1 was already out and shortly there after 1.3.1 was ready for download.  These downloads required 30% battery life remaining and were 80 MB and 126 MB respectively.  Quite a large size but at least it was an easy install.  Lastly, I don’t know if I will ever get used to not having the LED indicator light that would blink on my Blackberry telling me I had a new message in the last 15 minutes.

Now, to the annoyances.  After you setup an Exchange account, you can not change the login settings, only the password.  The rest of the accounts I setup I can change everything.  Probably due to a limitation with Exchange Active Sync, the memos do not sync.  The contacts that were imported from exchange would only bring over the parent contacts folder.  On the Blackberry, all contacts came over easily, on the Pre the contacts subfolders do not come over … and yes I’ve done my troubleshooting … both level 1 and 2 support at Palm told me it should work, level 3 conceded it does not.  Another annoyance is the NFL and NASCAR and other useless apps that came with the Pre cannot be removed.  I asked around and to my surprise, they apparently didn’t even pay Sprint or Palm for this limitation.  On to tethering, you can do it for another $15/month but not through USB, over bluetooth.  I guess most laptops come with bluetooth now but the less strain on the Pre’s battery the batter.  Speaking of the battery, HORRIBLE.  I use it moderately and by moderately I mean maybe 2 or 3 few minute phone calls and email interactions throughout the day and I’m lucky to get by 24 hours on a charge.

Some annoyances I thought would fade with time … some have and some have not.  At first, I thought the Pre’s reaction time was a little slow, and it may be, but after my use it seems to be appropriate.  I joked around with people when we first got them that they better like their background because they are going to be looking at it a lot (and I think all 20 of us changed form the original background).  I thought the sides of the keyboard “dish” were a little hard and sharp but I don’t notice it anymore.  The keyboard is just a little smaller than the Blackberries that I have used, you NEED to have nails to type on it, otherwise the side of your finder will get sore.  Version 1.3.1 has a lot of taps to go through just to shut it down, previous versions did not require so many prompts and hopefully this will change back in the next release.  I am still having trouble placing the cursor in certain areas when I need to edit something, my tapping just isn’t up to par or the screen is not accurate enough for this to be useful.  This makes copying and pasting a hassle as well, unless you are selecting all to copy.

Keeping in the business perspective while continuing the annoyances, there is no central management.  This is the trade-off of saving $15/month/device but it would be nice if we could purchase software from Palm or have another way to manage these.  Another issue I have is that there is no auto on/off setting, this could be easily fixed with a future upgrade, I would think though.  However, due to this shortcoming, I am forced to either not turn it off at night or sit through 2 minutes of the pulsing palm logo while it boots.  Yes, it take a while to boot, I mean my Vista computer boots faster … yeah right I’m just kidding I would never have a computer that runs Vista.  Also, I had to go through 20 tutorials as I activated and tested each Pre.  It would have been nice to have an option to skip it, and even nicer to have an option to tell it to run at a later time (like next power on) so it would run for other employees.

And now, finally, on to some of the things I really like about the Pre.  First, let me mention that everyone else in our company likes that they can swipe emails and applications away to delete or close them.  It is nice that when you are composing an email you can see what your signature is, and you can easily edit it without having to go through several non-intuitive menus on the Blackberry.  When I connect it to my computer I am prompted if I want to sync the device, add it as a USB device or just charge.  USB device?  Yup, that’s what I wrote … there is enough free space to save 7 GB of crap to the Pre.  Music, work files, videos, whatever you want.  I have mentioned Exchange several times, yup, we connected all 20 phones to Exchange and immediately all of our main contacts, tasks, calendar events and emails came over.  By default, it only brings over 3 days but I easily changed it to all.  Ok, there was an issue with my exchange account and for some reason my calendar won’t come over no matter what I do, I know it is something wrong with my domain account due to the troubleshooting I’ve done and with some help from Palm.  Still, 19/20 flawless is a great start for something that hasn’t been on the market nearly as long as the Blackberry.  Lastly, I really like that I can see all my personal email folders for yahoo, gmail and other accounts.

So here we are, conclusion time.  I know what you must be thinking … 3 paragraphs of annoyances vs 1 paragraph of likes the answer is obvious.  Well, not so fast my friend.  While there are many little annoyances with the Pre, overall I think they can easily be solved with future upgrades.  Also, there is a “new entry” weighted system since the Blackberry has been in the market and had time to improve for many years.  Overall, the Pre could and should take a chunk out of RIM’s Blackberry in the SMB area.  If you use the Blackberry for personal use, you should definitely take a look at the Pre.  Hopefully, with a new hardware release Palm will fix the battery issues for real and stop falsely blaming applications and fix up other minor problems.

I’m hoping it’s not just me here folks.  The NFL is quite annoying.  ESPN has to share a large portion of the blame too … I think half of their coverage in the NFL’s off season is still about football.  Let’s start with the NFL first though:

First, the players get really excited when they do their job … why do people enjoying watching them putz around?  Second, you seem to have to drink and eat and talk during the games because it is a constant starting and stopping.  I believe it is likely they play only a quater and the time the clock is running.  On this point, my third problem is that these guys are tired!  They can’t possibly be out for more than 8 minutes of actual playing time per game … aren’t these guys supposed to be athletes?  I could probably go on, in fact maybe I should start a list, watch out for an update.

Now we move on to ESPN.  You should consider yourself lucky if you see hockey coverage on ESPN.  To top that the anchors think they are important for some reason.  Do those guys actually get paid or do they volunteer because it makes them feel important?

I don’t want to harp … it’s tiring to be annoyed with so much.

If you have never heard of the show “Surface” that’s a real shame. Of course, it’s also understandable considering the idiots at NBC/Universal wouldn’t know a good thing if it was handed to them for free. This is further proven with how they treat hockey coverage and Scrubs. Anyway, if you haven’t seen Surface before let me sum it up as best as I can.

First, I read somewhere the writers originally wanted the first season to be 23 episodes but because NBC/Universal sucks (as already mentioned) they were forced to cut it to 15. With that said, the amazing storyline that took place could have only been better if the writers’ creativity was encouraged instead of being deterred. With that in mind, I shall begin.

The best way to sum up the storyline is that there are about 5 parallel paths at the start. It quickly converges into 3 or 4 I’m not quite sure. Either way, these lines go on until the converge once again a few episodes later. Now we are down to 2 or 3. For those that have seen the show, the reason I am fuzzy about the number is because Lee has interactions with the characters but still goes on his own paths. In the last episode (the unfortunate series finale), … I was going to say but you REALLY should watch it.
Now that I know what the series is all about, I can truly enjoy Miles’ character. Perfectly awkward is the best I can do to describe it. Laura and Rich’s characters still bother me but they balance each other well, not to mention they are both a little crazy. With all dramas, there are too many unrealistic
inconsistencies. However, with just enough touch of realism, Surface was able to keep my attention long enough to get drawn in.

If you know me, I have the series on DVD, you can borrow it. If you trust me, buy it, you can find it online for like $20. You have to watch the series at least twice. I’ve paused and rewound a lot of parts too many times and I’m still picking things up after the 3rd run through.

The next few weeks are going to be really exciting around the NHL. I know people have complaints about the NHL, hardcore fans as well as the not-quite fans, but it’s still the coolest game on earth. I like to compare it to democracy … it’s not perfect, but it’s the best we’ve got.

For those that get exciting about other trade deadlines in major sports, you must love this one. Sure the NFL has a closer watched draft, because so many people know the names of the college athletes, but do they even have a trade deadline? And baseball, I’m not quite sure about how the rules are set, but you can still have trades after the deadline. That brings me to Hockey, seems like there is no competition.

The Flyers have made many bad moves near the trade deadline in the past (at this point any hockey/Flyers fan is thinking the same thing: Adam Oates), but last year they really made me change my tune about management, the team and where they were headed. And it’s not just the Flyers playoff hopes that gets me excited, so much goes on in such a few days you can’t help but get excited by it. For the past few years, the trade deadline has made for a lot of excitement at this time of year, and I hope 2008 doesn’t disappoint.

I know I didn’t mention basketball, the NBL or whatever it is. As I’ve said time and time again (well, the first time it was a realization) basketball would be a lot more interesting if you didn’t have to dribble and it was full contact … of course that would pretty much make it rugby.

When people ask me what I do, and I tell them I work with computers, their reaction is always the same. “Oh so you are a geek (and they quietly laugh at their quite original joke)?” Whether their question is rhetorical or not I always answered back, “not really, I don’t own an MP3 player, a digital camera, any gaming systems or any other tech toys like that.” They promptly shut up. When I bought my car, the salesman asked, “you own an MP3 player, right?” and I just answered yes to move the conversation along because I knew he was trying to sell me on the audio in jack that came with the car – wow.

Anyway, being a huge music fan, although definitely not an audiophile, I began my search for a music player. Required for this were the following, in order or importance:

- Flashed-based (just because players are made with hard drives, doesn’t mean that hard drives are meant to be carried around)

-Able to fit close to if not all of my 275 CD collection

-No music store lock-in (similarly, plays as many files types as possible)

-Not overpriced

Major pluses are as follows:

-No software required

-Works with Linux (I think most players these days can be made to work, although maybe not supported to work with Linux)

-FM Radio

-Great battery life

-Plays OGGs

So I did my research and after a short time, I found the perfect candidate: the Cowon iAudio7. As I read through the specifications for the unit, absolutely everything was a “pro”. So I dug deep, made the purchase and I couldn’t be more pleased. As I type now, I have my computer speakers unplugged from my computer and plugged into my tiny new friend.

In the end, if you are looking for a portable music player (MP3 player as most people call it) don’t just stick with the big guys, you have to check out the Cowon iAudio 7.

I was flipping channels the other night (an extreme rarity because I normally just flip the TV off when there is nothing on) and I caught this guy that looked familiar talking about a book. Robert Zubrin, who had great ideas how we can send humans to Mars with 2 or 3 separate missions (using natural resources there to create oxygen and fuel) and save billions of dollars, instead of NASA’s current plans. He probably looked familiar to me because I am a Discovery Channel geek.

Anyway, he was talking about mandating flex fuel cars. This would add about $100 per car and $1 million per engine (for testing & certifying). There approximately 250 different engines used in the US, which is $250 million and what he says is the amount we spend importing Oil in 3 seconds. Every question I thought about as I listened to him, he answered. This proves he did his resaerch and listened to opposing view points, something that is extremely important. Thinking from both sides of the argument, he reasoned his stance very well. This is the first book I think I’ve even thought about buying since I saw the movie Riverworld.

He proposed this to the Whitehouse and was shot down because apparently they “don’t do mandates”! How logical.

It’s such a simple solution, but no one cares enough. First of all, I would like to state that I don’t keep up to date on the whole entertainment industry and its situation. After learning the writers were striking I thought “That’s strange, with the quality of movies and TV, I thought they’ve been on strike a long time already.” Will the strike get the writers what they want: more money? Who knows, but I don’t think so.

Why? First of all, very few people go to the movies or watch a certain TV show because their favorite writer wrote that episode/movie. However, many people do exactly that if their favorite actor/ess acts in it. Isn’t that why guest stars are around, for higher ratings? I see that advertised a lot more often than guest writers. Secondly, are any customers hurting from the strike? The studios are still pushing out movies and shows. Reruns, reality shows, game shows, rehashes of old scripts and poorly thought out sequels are rampant and the average mindless, consumerist American still pays. Are the consumers being hurt? Some are, those who are huge fans of late night shows, I would think may be bummed out. But do they still watch whatever is on? How else would they fall asleep?

Do you side with the writers here? They would like to argue that the studios would not exist without them, but it certainly seems like they’ve been OK the past few months. Unions exist so that boss man can’t walk up to a group of people are bargain down who would work for the least until he gets the number of workers he’d need for the day (please pardon that masculine tone there, I could not think how to state it gender neutral). Everyone works for the same price, take it or leave it. With the recent trend in “entertainment” I feel the studios are leaning toward the leave it. Why should the writers deal with this? They shouldn’t.

Here’s the deal: the writers should do exactly what smart bands are beginning to do. The likes of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have rid themselves of their record labels. I am not particularly a fan of either band, but I would buy their new albums just out of principle. Their move is not one of greed, they are tired of the RIAA, DRM and other constraints that take away our rights as free people in the greatest nation. If the writers truly deserve the money they are paid, why don’t they start their own studio? Two things could happen, either the studios would feel the pressure and before crumbling to the ground, beg for them to come back or the studios would be stupidly stubborn and the “Writers Studio” would be the only one making any money, being the only studio creating anything of quality.

Do the writers have the initiative to do what it takes, or will they just agree to a few more cents a script, until that isn’t enough? If they take whatever is given to them, that proves my thinking all along: they aren’t anything special. Just like I said when the state raised the requirements for driving. The fact that I had to wait 6 months to get my license, just proved the state’s lack of trust in its own testing. If the writers don’t create their own studio, it proves the lack of faith they have in themselves.

As a side note, 2 things:

1. I might bitch about America, but this is the greatest country in the world. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best we’ve come up with

2. WordPress needs to fix their word count algorithm: {space}{backspace} {space}{backspace} {space}{backspace} does not equal 3 words. …And now that I attempted to inflate my word count, kudos to open source! After hitting {enter} or save, the word count fixes itself.

I haven’t written anything in a bit since re-opening a blog. Something is strange, I’m not really pissed off about anything right now. Sure, I could find something to rant about but … am I content? It can’t be attributed to being busy, since I was a lot busier in high school and college. Maybe it’s a mix of things going on in my life. I’m working out more than ever, I’m playing ice hockey about once a week, I spend my energy talking up open source alternatives. Three positives in one sentence – what’s going on? A little over a year ago I reached the few goals I set out for myself. The usual, graduate and buy my own place within a year. I was confused for a while over the summer because I didn’t know what was next. Maybe it’s the working out and playing ice hockey that is a release for me, but I don’t care what’s next. It’s great to completely clear your mind for a little while. I never really had something to do on a consistent basis that would do this for me. I’ve always played sports before, where people say I’m a different person (probably because I’m in another world), but never for a long period of time. Maybe this is all I ever needed to be content with how things are. I still spend time over thinking and stressing out about work and all the studying I need to do and, well, the rest of what’s going on in the world (how could that not stress you out?).

It could be that the consistent physical activity has helped, but I think it’s more than that. When I’m working out, I really focus. When I play hockey, I really focus. This is a great outlet. It’s a fact that I care too much and that’s what gets me in trouble, but where it really helps. Because I care too much, I focus more and try harder than anyone else on the ice. This isn’t a bad thing at all because I’m not stressed about it, even when I under perform, because I know if I keep at it, I’ll keep getting better. Why is this so fun for me? I don’t know, but it sure feels great to completely clear my head for a while.

What’s next for me? I haven’t spent the time over thinking it just yet. I’ve always wanted to go with the flow, just never been able to. Something will probably happen tomorrow, but we have a game on Thursday … sweet release isn’t far away. I should work out tomorrow but the Flyers are on and I don’t really have time to watch them and work out. Eh, I’ll figure it out.

It’s been a little while now, and I’m still not sure exactly what to make of it. I have to think it’s a good thing, that’s what I keep telling myself. You’ve always been there, in the back of my head mostly, just coming to the forefront to drive me crazy it seems. Never knowing what you wanted, never knowing what to do, I just let time pass time. We hung out, it was good to get together. You said more than a few things that caught me off guard and I finally realized, even though we were never as close as I wanted, we’d grown apart. Not the “I haven’t seen you in a while, you’ve experienced a lot without me” grown apart, but the type where we are both different people than we once were. After going our separate ways, I realized after some drinking that night, I no longer desired you the way I thought I had. Interesting as it may seem (to me at least), I felt the weight on my shoulders lift. Simultaneously, I went to my cynical roots and asked myself what that meant. Have I been fooling myself this entire time? All I can say is I’ve moved on since whenever it was sometime this past summer. This is the last time you will be taking up more than a few minutes of my thoughts. Maybe we’ll hang out in the future, maybe we won’t, I’m not bothered by it either way. Since this unrealization, I suppose you would call it, I’ve been unsure what to think. In such a strange way you closely resemble another. Both similar and dissimilar to me in the wrong ways. You both are very different … one shy and quiet, one outgoing and confident. One easy going, one picky. One of you I’ve spent many nights with, we’ve been physically close with each other more than anyone else, while the other I’ve only imaged. One has rarely been outside the Philadelphia area, while the other has traveled all over. What brought me so close (one physically, the other mentally) to you two? Was I looking for a complete mix of the two of you? Both in my life for similar period, both leaving (for what it seems) my life in the past 6 months or so. All I wonder is what is in store next …

I realize it may be strange to write toward the “second person” (you) but it feel a lot more comfortable. Almost as if it were an actual conversion with the intended reader(s). This is a release for me and I think that is the best way to let it out.

Reading over my old rambles I really enjoyed laughing at myself. Mostly because of some of the ridiculous stuff that I wrote. I now understand why I get on people’s nerves so well. Who would want to hear me say that crap? On the other hand, if you pull out some of the things I wrote, I’m really proud of it, still. The NHL lockout comments were great. I look back and I really tried hard not to care what most people think of me, except for a select few important people. I always try to please everyone, though I would definitely not consider myself someone who wants to be friends with everyone. As always, my weakness is still that I care too much … about everything. I want to please everyone, I want everyone to look up to me, I want to be there for everyone. As “selfless” as it may seem, that’s not it at all. I enjoy it, it’s complete selfishness … kind of like the most rewarding jobs people can get are the ones where they help others.

That’s not to say I don’t enjoy my job, I love the structured freedom I have, the problem solving involved and the relatively low stress environment (although, I of course find ways to stress). There is just something missing. I want to show others how much I care about … everything. I want to help others care too. I think this is why most people get into politics, unfortunately they either don’t last or they get corrupted.

This is why people think I’m anti-social. The truth is, I’m not, there’s just only a select few people I can talk to without getting bored. I can only stand to talk or listen about most sports, pop culture or the weather for so long. I need depth. The envelope needs to be pushed with Religion and Politics, why can’t we talk about this? If you get offended because I have a different opinion than you, there is a major problem. I could talk for hours about either of these two subjects, the scary part is, it’s a one-way conversation except for three people I’ve ever met.

Hockey is the one sport I enjoy talking about, but since it’s the greatest sport ever, how could I not? Probably because it’s the only organized sport I’ve played, where tennis, volleyball, badminton, football, baseball/softball and basketball are all just pickup games every once in a while. There are many things I’d like to fix with the NHL. I think they’ve made a lot of bad moves, and while they say they have made changes for the fans, it just hasn’t helped. They seem as closed minded as most of our politicians.

Music is a great subject for me, but it normally goes one-way again since rap and pop are everywhere. I think I have one concert buddy, any concert I’d like to see, he’s probably already thinking about going. The greatest thing about music is how these guys can express themselves to creatively. I’ve always been jealous of their creativity. Although I’m not a huge System of a Down fan, or any of those other bands that yell about how much America sucks, I hope they realize how America is so great because they can make a living in America, expressing themselves to others about domestic issues. This is the best country in the world, and if you disagree, help me change it so it’s even better. We might be the most hated country, but jealousy is the root of all hate, so I’m partially OK with being hated.

Lastly, there is technology. Unfortunately, DRM, open source and anything non-windows is over 99% of people’s heads. I can’t say it’s because their heads are all in the clouds, but how can you not care about this? It’s like saying you don’t care about the government spying on you because you have nothing to hide – that’s not the point! This affects everyone, but so few people care, how can the few of us that do change the world around us? What will get people to see the light? Maybe first, if we can just get people to look for the light, they will find it easily.

I disagree with the statement that all forms of media (I’m not talking about “news”) have a political agenda behind it, but it is amazing how so many things can lead back to politics. But it is interesting to look back and see how I transitioned from paragraph start to political end.